le lundi 14 août 2017 – Monday August 14, 2017

The temperature is 11C / 52F. However, the forecast is for a high temperature this afternoon of 25C. Quite a warm up.

Yesterday, “le dimanche 13 août”, two French people stopped to talk to Sandy and ask her a question. The first gentleman stopped her on the way to the “recycling” deposit area. He saw that she was carrying one of the city yellow plastic bags and asked her if she was going to the “poubelle” area (garbage can). She said “oui” then he proceeded to tell her it was full and ready to explode. She wasn’t sure what it would look like when she arrived, but he was correct in saying it was full! She left her bag tied together and leaning against the recycling container as a few other people had already done. The other person stopped her just as we exited the bus yesterday on our way to the craft fair. She asked where you caught the return bus to the Intra-Muros. Sandy gave her the answer. She then asked if we knew anything about the craft fair. Phil replied, yes we had been there at least 3 times. It has more jewelry than we prefer to look at, so it does not take us long to look around.

Today, we took the 8h40 bus to Intermarche. We finished our shopping and were back on the bus at 9h30.

It is a gorgeous day! The temperature is very nice, sunny, and breezy. We have all of the windows open and there is a wonderful breeze blowing through. No grassy smell, no farm animal smell, just clean air! Sandy hung clothes to dry on the balcony and began to clean the outside window sills and window frames.

Last year we bought pancake mix from the “Maison du Quebec.” We still had some so Phil made pancakes for our lunch. They are similar to buckwheat or whole wheat pancakes in the USA. They were delicious!

After lunch we watched our friend Alain play boules by the ramparts. It was a beautiful afternoon.

boules by the ramparts

Sandy and Alain

On our way back to our apartment we followed a man with a tiny dog in his backpack. It is very common to see French people with their dogs in a purse, or recyclable sack. This backpack was specifically made to carry a dog. The dog appeared to be a Yorkie and looked very content not to risk being stepped on by people.

le mardi 15 août 2017 – Tuesday August 15, 2017

Today is a French national holiday based on the Catholic holy day of the Assumption. The buses will run on a holiday schedule (less frequently) and there are many more people in town. When Sandy returned to our building after buying our croissants, the man who is renting the ground floor apartment was standing outside in his night-shirt. This was at 8h45. He is older than we are and quite rotund, so it was quite a shock and not a particularly attractive sight either.

Sandy shopped at the marché and bought flat peaches and green plums. They taste very good.

flat-peach-and-green-plum

We walked to Saint-Servan along the beach to the “Tour Solidor”. On Tuesday they hold a flea market and antique market. It is a lovely spot to view another harbor.

art fair

Solidor flowers

patenque by Sablons

Phare Bas-Sablons

While walking back towards the Intra-Muros we spotted a bicyclist holding a dog on his lap, towing a small wagon with two more dogs inside. It was very cute and they sped by so quickly we didn’t have time to take a photo.

After lunch we watched our friend Alain play boules. Some of his team were the same teammates as yesterday and some were new. We do not understand all of the scoring or rules. A lovely afternoon with perfect temperature and sun!

le mercredi 16 août – Wednesday August 16, 2017

The forecast high temperature is 25C / 77F a great beach day! High tide is 14h06 this afternoon, so by 16h00, there should be enough beach to walk in shallow water.

Sandy shopped at boulangerie “Simon” for our breakfast. They also have some of the most beautiful and delicious pastries. She bought a “Royale choco-pistache” dessert to have after dinner tonight.

dessert from “Simon”

Look at the lovely box it is put into for carrying home as well as the dessert itself. A lot of effort goes into each lovely piece. She had to wait a minute to pay for our breakfast because the patissier / boulanger was making and labeling some pastries to go in the oven. He put the tray into the oven, closed the door and waited on her.

We had all of the French doors and windows open in our apartment and it was a fabulous day for drying laundry.

After lunch we watched our friend Alain play boules by the ramparts.

Then we walked towards the mole (breakwater with a lighthouse) to look at one of the beaches. We had thought about walking in the water but it was not hot at all today, so we enjoyed watching boats come and go in the harbor. We will save the ocean for a warmer day.

le jeudi 17 août 2017 – Thursday August 17, 2017

It is cloudy and drizzly. We are on the bus at 8h50 to go to Rocabey marché. Sandy bought “les olives noire sans noyau” so she doesn’t have to remove the pits. Black olives are very flavorful here and are sold by the gram or kilogram. She bought 200 grams. We stopped at the butcher for “faux filet

rilliettes and other aperitif food

” which is a delicious cut of steak, 2 slices of ham for sandwiches, and “farce a tomato” which is the stuffing that comes in stuffed tomato here. We are very fond of tomato farce and often buy yellow or orange peppers to put the stuffing in. We took a photo of some of the “rilliettes” and other aperitif food sold by our butcher.

We saw a cruise ship, the Star Legend,s had come into the basin through the locks early this morning. It is from the Windstar line in case anyone wants to cruise to Saint-Malo.

Star Legend

le vendredi 18 août 2017 – Friday August 18, 2017

Sandy got an early start by shopping at the marché before 9h00. She bought some fruit and some green beans.

green-beans-haricot-vert-from-monsieur-alix-at-the-marche

It is our day to tutor with Christine. We stopped to talk to Christine’s neighbor on the way to her house. He likes cats and said his cat is 21 years old. He was very friendly again today.

Michel, Christine’s husband, had rented a carpet shampooer and was out on the terrace shampooing the dining room and living room area rugs.

After lunch we went to the pharmacy to refill prescriptions. We found out the pharmacy has been sold. The owner “Philippe” has sold the pharmacy to the owner of the pharmacy by the Cathedral. We do not know if our pharmacy will remain open or if it will close. We will find out next month. The sale date for the pharmacy is 31 October. Another change!!

The afternoon was forecast for rain, but the sun was shining, the sky was blue, the wind blowing and it was gorgeous! About 66F / 19C.

le samedi 19 août 2017 – Saturday August 19, 2017

It had rained earlier this morning and was 13C / 55F. Quite cool!

As Sandy walked to the boulangerie to buy breakfast she noticed many people wearing rain jackets and carrying umbrellas. There wasn’t even any rain predicted. Weather constantly changes when you’re near the ocean. Every table was full in the boulangerie. Perhaps a ferry had just arrived from the U.K. or the Channel Islands. She could hear a lot of British English speakers enjoying their tasty French breakfast.

We walked to the Rocabey post office to mail a letter and took the bus home. We stopped in to say “bonjour” to our friend Jean-Louis at his boutique.

After lunch we watched our friend Alain play boules by the ramparts and then walked to the harbor to look at the boats.

The day had alternated between clouds and sun all day. At one time we even saw it rain really hard for about 30 seconds. The day ended with beautiful sunshine and breezy coolness.

le dimanche 20 août 2017 – Sunday August 20, 2017

Sandy purchased lovely looking desserts when she shopped for our breakfast. They were purchased at “La Fournee Malouine” and cost 2,50€. They were an euro less expensive than she paid at the other boulangerie/pattiserie earlier in the week.

We walked across the ecluse/locks and along “la plage des bas-sablons” to the “Solider Metier des Arts” which is a yearly art fair. One of the exhibits used wooden shoes as part of the art. Sandy didn’t think she would see wooden Dutch shoes in a French art fair! Funny! The weather was perfect! No jackets or umbrellas needed today.

After walking round trip, and browsing we were ready for a cold drink at Charley’s Bar. Sandy had an Orangina and Phil had grenadine syrup with water. Orangina and other soda type drinks are tastier in France. They are less sweet and taste more like the fruit they are made from.

Wednesday May 25, 2016 is a gorgeous day!

Sandy spent a very uncomfortable night due to the pain in her foot. Phil shopped for a baguette for breakfast.

Instead of heading off to pick up our rental car to drive to Normandy, Phil cancelled the chambre d’hote reservation and the car reservation. With Sandy’s foot hurting so much it was not a good idea to travel. We will reschedule the trip to Normandy as soon as Sandy’s foot is better.

At 9:15 Phil stopped by the doctor’s office to arrange an appointment for Sandy. There was an 11:40 appointment available for today so he took it. The doctor’s office is located in the Intra-Muros right next to the cathedral, a distance of only 300 meters (328 yards). Very close, but also a long way when you have a sore foot.

While getting ready to walk to the appointment, Sandy had trouble finding shoes which would fit on her swollen foot. It’s a good thing she had decided to bring a pair of sandals with velcro straps from the USA because none of her other shoes would have fit on her swollen foot. A last-minute packing decision turned out to be essential, at least for today.

At the doctor’s office we waited about 20 minutes before she came to the waiting room to bring us back to her office. The doctor was a very nice lady. She told us her mother was English so language wasn’t a problem. Sandy was convinced she had gout, but had sense enough to go to the doctor rather than self-medicating. Sandy’s diagnosis of gout was mistaken, it was an infection. Her foot was infected in the same spot where she had received an injection last February for arthritis. The doctor drained the infected spot on Sandy’s foot, put an antibiotic on it and bandaged it. Sandy got 4 prescriptions and was charged 25€ for the appointment which with the exchange rate today was $28.

Phil took Sandy back to the Place du Marché aux Legumés and sat her down on one of the benches, then he went off to the pharmacy to get the prescriptions. The 4 prescriptions, 2 oral and 2 topical for two weeks, cost 67€ or $75.

When Phil returned to Sandy, there were 2 gulls walking around in one of the flower beds. It is not often that 2 gulls are found walking around this close to each other. One usually chases off the other. But these 2 seemed to get along pretty well.